蜜桃影视

Lauren McNally recalls when the checks began showing up at her house in 2021. As part of the expanded, refundable child tax credit, McNally and her husband were among families who received monthly checks from the federal government to offset the costs of raising their children. 鈥淚t helped us pay off some credit cards and helped us with groceries, child care and car payments. Basic things,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淲e didn’t go on a vacation with it.鈥�

McNally, a Democratic state representative who lives in west Youngstown, Ohio, relies on her neighbors 鈥� who include nurses, police officers and public utility workers 鈥� as her North Star for how families are doing. These are people, she describes as having 鈥渏ob titles where they should be able to sustain a family and a household, but aren鈥檛 even coming close.鈥� She hears how they are struggling to pay bills, how they can鈥檛 afford back-to-school supplies for their kids, or how long they will wait to turn the air conditioners on at their houses in the summer. 

that  most families spent their expanded 2021 child tax credit for everyday necessities: groceries, utilities, housing and clothing 鈥� the very same things she, her husband and neighbors were doing. The extra payment, between $3,000 and $3,600 annually per child 鈥� or a monthly check between $250 and $300 鈥� brought the child poverty rate to a record low of 5.2%, . also shows that the funds dramatically improved overall well-being for families, many of whom were able to use the money to pay down bills or give a bit of breathing room to their finances. supports its bipartisan appeal. 

After the federal tax credit expired at the end of 2021, McNally introduced the in 2023, a measure she has since re-introduced in each session of the Ohio General Assembly since. A version of her proposal even made it into , before being overridden by the Republican鈥檚 veto-proof majority in the statehouse. 

McNally wasn鈥檛 the only lawmaker to view the child tax credit as a vehicle for families with young children to improve outcomes 鈥� and Ohio wasn鈥檛 the only state to take that approach. Altogether, 22 states and D.C. have created , though only child tax credits will be active in 2026. 

鈥淪tates were curious about how to fill the gaps left behind,鈥� said Ryan Vinh, a research analyst at the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University, who has studied the impact of the child tax credit.

by the Columbia center found that the state-level child tax credits helped mitigate the loss of the expanded federal credit. And the center鈥檚 forthcoming research, Vinh said, shows that the states that have expanded their child tax credits are seeing similar effects with bringing people out of poverty, but not to the extent the federal government鈥檚 impact was, largely because states are not able to offer the full amount of $3,000 to $3,600 per child. 

In July 2025, the federal , from $2,000 to $2,200 per child, although the new version limited the ability to receive a refund and created new eligibility criteria so that some families who were previously able to access the credit no longer could. Refundability is particularly crucial for the families in poverty, as it requires a family to make enough income to have a sufficiently high tax burden, rather than being able to access the funding outright. 

The ability to zero-in on child poverty is incredibly effective for state lawmakers who see this as an issue to address, and it鈥檚 drawing the attention of other states who are seeing the impact.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a domino effect,鈥� said Neva Butkus, a senior analyst who leads the state child tax credit work for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. States and localities seeking to add or expand a child tax credit work with her team to come up with what they want to solve for 鈥� in some cases it may be reducing the number of families in poverty, or it might be creating a smaller tax credit that more families can access, improving overall affordability. 

Butkus observed that there are clusters of states that tend to follow one another, such as those based on geography, and that conversations surrounding the child tax credit (CTC) among state lawmakers transcend political affiliation. She points to the CTC that McNally and DeWine pushed for and one that as examples of forward momentum in red and purple states. 鈥淲e are seeing it become more commonplace, and lawmakers across the aisle are seeing the value in the credits, as affordability becomes more of a focus.鈥�

The CTC is 鈥渂oth an affordability and anti-poverty mechanism,鈥� Butkus said. 鈥淟awmakers understand the rising costs associated with raising children. With recent years, lawmakers and advocacy groups come to us with poverty alleviation really as a focus,鈥� she said. But addressing refundability tends to be one of the differences along party lines, she noted, as some legislators view fully refundable tax credits to be an anti-work incentive.

Vinh points out that there is not strong evidence that the fully refundable child tax credit negatively impacted workforce participation, and on the 2021 expanded tax credit found a 鈥渕uted鈥� impact on employment.

But there are limits to what states can do to address poverty. They are required to balance their budgets and cannot run a deficit 鈥� unlike the federal government 鈥� and cannot do deficit financing. 鈥淲ith the upcoming changes to Medicaid and SNAP, states have to take on additional cost sharing,鈥� Vinh said. 鈥淭o the extent that states have to find money in their budget, these kinds of gaps at the federal level create some concern about being able to fund more ambitious tax credit policies.鈥� 

States that do opt for a generous child tax credit may see its impact relatively quickly. Butkus cites Minnesota as an example, explaining that in 2023, the state legislature used a budget surplus to聽 implement a child tax credit of $1,750 per child; in 2024 this was offered as an , a similar model to the checks in the mail that families received in 2021. from the Columbia center cite that this change will cut child poverty by one-third.

In neighboring Iowa, though, the legislature opted for a described as 鈥渁 total windfall to the state鈥檚 of households.鈥�

Ohio, too, opted to go in a different direction, despite having a Republican governor who championed the proposed child tax credit. In 2025, the child tax credit was nixed, but the state for the Cleveland Browns to build a new stadium. The state also switched to a , which, like Iowa鈥檚 changes, lowered taxes for the wealthiest residents..

McNally plans to keep pushing for the expanded child tax credit in Ohio, though she is aware that the outcome of the 2026 governor election will likely foretell whether she can gain momentum. Part of what she wants to do is continue selling it to families, who tend to tune out conversations about taxes. 

鈥淭axes are complicated, dry and dull,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut when I say 鈥榬emember when you got the check in the mail, once a month from the federal government? You want to do that again?鈥� They said 鈥榦h that is awesome.鈥� They just want to get that money in the mail so they can buy groceries. They don鈥檛 care what is happening behind the scenes to get that.鈥�

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how 蜜桃影视鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.